The Final Countdown
by danceyrselfclean
Summary: From king of the "minor leagues" to king of the world. A bell-to-bell oneshot about Daniel Bryan's cash-in at TLC and his improbable journey to the top. Kayfabe.


**A/N:** I don't own World Wrestling Entertainment or its characters, because if I did, I'd be Vince McMahon, and I'm still not sure if Vince knows what computers are, though the idea of him reading and writing fanfic is exquisite.

Daniel Bryan is my favorite wrestler - I'm still a bit shocked to see somebody I watched wrestle in a small gymnasium now wrestle in front of a sold out arena of thousands, let alone become world champion - and I felt like writing something for him. The title comes from the song by Europe, which was his theme song back in the Ring of Honor wrestling promotion.

* * *

><p><strong>Ding-ding-ding!<strong>

The bell rings, and the Money in the Bank has been cashed in - it's actually happening.

You hook the leg.

This is the moment. No, better yet, this is your moment.

At least, hopefully it is.

Looking back at the way your last cash-in attempt ended, you have the right to have a few doubts over whether or not this will actually work. Because for all you know, Teddy Long's already slowly making his way through the corridors, ready to appear at the last possible second to uphold some long forgotten rule that will force you to give back the belt again.

(For example, "Sorry playa, but the wrestling rulebook of Maryland states that competitors over seven feet tall can only wrestle once a night. That's just the way things are, which means the Big Show is still World Heavyweight Champion. But if you're still up to wrestle tonight, Daniel, then I'll be happy to give you a match, one-on-one, with THE UNDERTAKER! Holla!")

For the moment though, you take your mind off Smackdown General Managers, because the most imminent threat to you leaving Baltimore with the World Heavyweight Championship just happens the man you're pinning.

**One!**

In your rush to reach the ring, you've forgotten that the Big Show could very well kick out; it's happened during quite a few cash-ins. As confident as you are in your abilities, when it comes to fighting a seven footer with a knockout right hook, no matter how beaten up he is, you'd rather not take your chances trying to knock him back down. No, you want to pin him right here and now.

Using all your strength, you pull his leg farther up, attempting to press more weight on his shoulders.

No wonder why he's so hard to beat; you thought Mark was hard to pin, the Big Show requires practically your entire body to keep down, and he's not even conscious.

Wait.

Strike that thought about him not being conscious. You hear a garbled "huh?" from a very deep voice underneath your ear. It nearly gives you a heart attack, and the realization dawns on you: you've genuinely just awoken a sleeping giant.

The referee's hand stops its ascent and, in seemingly slow motion, starts to come back down. It's an effect you've seen time and time again during big matches, but it seems to be going even slower this time. No wonder why - this is easily the biggest match of your career. Never before have you more strongly willed a ref's palm to hit the mat.

(Now would be the best time for those special vegan powers to make themselves known, but alas, they aren't.)

Never before has three seconds gone so long; in your head, it feels like you could have wrestled another sixty minute classic in the time it's taking this pin to occur.

Three seconds. That's all it will take. Just three slaps of the mat, and your name will be listed amongst the best of the best, and your arms will cradle a belt few dreamed you would even touch. Actually knowing how close you are to achieving those dreams only fuels your desire to end this match as soon as possible. You're this close to desperately pleading to any and all divine beings willing to hear your prayers when a calming thought enters your head.

You're Daniel Bryan. You're arguably the most skilled wrestler in the industry. You're quite possibly the best in the world, even if CM Punk decided to steal that moniker away from you and put it on a t-shirt. And no matter how large the Big Show is, or how deadly his right hook can be, nothing's standing in your way of that belt.

In that moment, you drive all doubts from your mind. If this giant kicks out and starts to get back up, you'll kick him right back to sleep.

End of story.

All things considered though, you feel sorry for the big guy. You honestly did want to cash in the briefcase at Wrestlemania, but he encouraged you not to wait. He pointed to nine years of missed opportunities and a world title drought. He reminded you of Vengeance and Survivor Series, how a collapsed ring and a low blow cost him chances to hold the gold again. Add in your desire for revenge against Mark Henry, the reveal of the potentially brutal chairs match stipulation, and Punk's encouragement ("C'mon Daniel, can you imagine us two indy schmucks holding the two world titles? We need to make this happen!"), and the choice was clear. If the champion seemed out of it enough, you'd cash in tonight.

You just wish it wasn't the Big Show holding the gold when you did it.

But he'll understand. At least, you hope he will, lest you make the World Largest's Athlete angry, because you certainly understand where he came from.

**Two!**

Honestly, you too have wondered what would've happened on the road less taken. You too have suffered your own share of missed opportunities during your illustrious twelve year career - some good, some bad.

You remember your time in "the minor leagues", as Michael Cole would call them, where you once separated your shoulder only ten minutes into a sixty minute title match. Somehow, you not only managed to complete the match and retain your championship, but you continued to defend the belt for a few months more. It's still one of your biggest accomplishments, but you wonder how much longer you could have held it - how much more legendary that reign could have become - had your injury not slowed you down.

You remembered suffering a detached retina during another title match - this time, you were the challenger - that not only cost you later chances at championships, but also made you seriously consider retirement for a brief period.

You remember the night you and seven other wrestlers joined together to cause mayhem during one very special Raw. The Nexus, you called yourselves. But they kicked you out for feeling a bit of remorse for kicking and strangling anything in your way, and when you came back, it was to help end their reign at the top. But you can't help but wonder what would have happened if you stayed. Maybe the Nexus would still be in power and Barrett would've already barraged his way to the gold. Heck, maybe you'd have already won the title from him.

Other memories swirl around in your head now, ones of missed moves that turned the tide and matches stolen from right under your nose, and they support your decision to cash in.

If you didn't cash in tonight and somehow lost your shot later, you'd be asking "what if" for the rest of your life.

Sure, maybe it's less than idyllic conditions, not exactly the show stealing Wrestlemania title victory you wanted when you first decided the cash-in time, but as long as your name goes down in the history books as a WWE world champion by the end of the night, it'll be something you'll never regret.

Every belt you've ever won has meant something to you. But you'd be lying if you said this one wouldn't mean the most.

You've honed your craft all over the world and proudly know that you're in it for the love of the sport. As long as you're in a ring, nothing else matters.

But when it comes to professional wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment is the big one. For years, they doubted you'd even reach the WWE, let alone achieve anything. They said you wouldn't fit in, you couldn't play with the big boys, and maybe you'd half agree with them. Michael Cole said it best. You're a vegan, you're a nerd, you're a loser. Not world champion material. You own a pet named Asparagus the Wonder Dog, for heaven's sakes.

(You'd also be lying if you said possibly the best part of winning this title isn't the chance to rub it in Cole's face.)

But you still worked your ass off to prove them wrong and now you're here, one slap of the mat away from being World Heavyweight Champion. You can feel the Big Show start to stir, finally begging his body to kick out in time, but you can tell he's too late. This is it. Your long, improbable journey to the top of the wrestling mountain ends here. From king of the minor leagues to king of the world. And as the referee's hand is about to touch the mat for the final time, it hits you.

Perhaps this isn't the way you'd dreamed you would win the title. You admit that. But if you have your way, these fans will always remember all the ways you managed to retain it.

Because this isn't the end of your journey. It's just the start of another chapter: one with you, Daniel Bryan - vegan nerd and best wrestler in the world - as World Heavyweight Champion.

**Three!**

And there's nothing Cole can do about it.

**Ding-ding-ding!  
><strong>


End file.
